Many people, searching to discover the answer to this question, have studied Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39 in an attempt to find the role of this communist superpower in the end times:

“And the word of the Lord came to me saying: ‘Son of man, set your face toward Gog of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against Him, and say, “Thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold I am against you, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal. And I will turn you about, and put hooks in your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them splendidly attired, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them wielding swords; Persia, Ethiopia, and Put with them, all of them with shield and helmet; Gomer with all its troops; Beth-togarmah from the remote parts of the north with all its troops – many peoples with you’” (Ezekiel 38:1-6).

Many have interpreted the vivid apocalyptic imagery in Ezekiel 38 and 39 as foretelling a war between the Soviet Union and the restored nation of Israel just before the Second Coming of Jesus. Others have understood this vision as a prophecy which was fulfilled in the 2nd century B.C. at the defeat of the Assyrian invaders of Palestine by Judas Maccabeus.

In order to gain an understanding of these chapters, it is useful to employ a method of interpretation which rightly discerns the nature of apocalyptic literature. Apocalyptic passages in the Bible serve a dual purpose: to comfort God’s people in times of tribulation, and to show them that they are only a small part of a universal struggle between the forces of good and evil in which the kingdom of God will ultimately emerge as victorious. Apocalyptic messages are designed to increase the faith of God’s people in times of national crisis by assuring them that their God is able to deliver them.

Ezekiel 38-39 should be understood in the context of its apocalyptic literary style; this is a highly visionary passage depicting an earthly struggle of Ezekiel’s time which is only a smaller reflection of a spiritual conflict between the forces of heaven and hell.

Historically, the nations mentioned in this passage, Magog, Meshech, Tubal, Gomer and Beth-togarmah, were a barbarous people known as the Scythians. These were a nomadic people who had moved from central Asia to southern Russia. Just about the same time that Ezekiel was born, the Scythians terrorized southwest Asia and the Middle East.

Horsemen Splendidly Attired

Pouring through the passes of the Caucasus mountains, hordes of Scythians covered the fertile plains of the south. Known and feared for their ruthless cruelty, they came like a flight of locusts, devouring the countryside, consuming crops, slaughtering livestock, burning homes and villages, and massacring the inhabitants of the land.

The Scythians were fierce tribesmen who were paid no wage unless they could produce scalps of enemy soldiers killed in battle. Every Scyth owned at least one horse used for riding into battle. All carried a double curved bow, shooting over the horse’s left shoulder. Arrows and bow were carried in a case slung from the left side of a belt. The Scyths also carried swords, knives and daggers and wore bronze helmets and chain mail jerkins lined with red felt. They carried round shields decorated with central gold emblems in the shape of an animal.

The Scythians were accomplished horsemen, being among the first people to master the art of riding. This made their approach seem unnaturally sudden and gave them the great advantage of surprise attack. The Scythians advanced quickly southwestward striking fear into the hearts of the people of every nation that lay in their path.

One force appeared on Iran’s border in the 8th century B.C. bringing them into fierce conflict with the Cimmerians. The Scythian horsemen drove the Cimmerian foot soldiers northward through the Caucasus mountains across the Volga river. Another force chased the remnant of the Cimmerian army across Armenia, while a third force joined the second contingent at Lake Urmia and drove the remaining Cimmerian armies all the way across central Turkey into the regions of Phrygia and Lydia.

During the time of Ezekiel and Jeremiah, the Scythians attacked Syria and Judea from their capital city of Saqqez. Later, they attacked Egypt which borders Ethiopia and Libya (Put).

In the same year that the prophet Jeremiah was called (626 B.C.), swarms of Scythian invaders struck terror into the nations surrounding the Assyrian empire. Having made a pact with the Assyrians, Scythian horsemen were sent against Egypt and Judah.

Jeremiah, a contemporary of Ezekiel, foresaw an approaching storm, and described the coming invasion of the Babylonian empire. The early chapters of Jeremiah refer to the Scythian invasion which shortly preceded that of the Babylonians:

“I am bringing evil from the north,
and great destruction.
A lion has gone up from his thicket,
And a destroyer of nations has set out;
He has gone out from his place
To make your land a waste.
Your cities will be ruins
Without inhabitant.

Behold, he goes up like clouds,
And his chariots are like the whirlwind;
His horses are swifter than eagles.
Woe to us, for we are ruined!”
(Jeremiah 4:6,7,13)

The inclusion of the nations of Meshech, Tubal, Gomer, Beth-togarmah, Persia, Ethiopia and Put in Ezekiel 38:3,5,6 is best understood in light of the historical context of the Scythian invasion.

In Genesis 10:2, Magog, Meshech, Tubal, and Gomer are named as the sons of Japeth and are the founders of the northern group of nations from which the Scythians descended.

In Ezekiel 27:13, Meshech and Tubal are mentioned as being sellers of slaves to Tyre; and in Ezekiel 32:26, they are spoken of as “instilling terror in the land of the living.”

Meshech is thought to be a people called the Moschi dwelling in the Caucasus mountain regions according to Assyrian inscriptions.

Tubal is thought to be a people called the Tibareni dwelling on the southeast shores of the Black Sea.

Gomer is thought to have been the Cimmerians, who occupied central Turkey in the days of the Assyrian empire.

Beth-togarmah is thought to be Armenia.

Persia is the people inhabiting the region of modern day Iraq and Iran.

Ethiopia and Put speak of the Black African nations.

When the history of the Scythian people is examined, it becomes apparent that they are the people described in Ezekiel’s prophecy. Herodotus, the Greek historian, refers to the suddenness of the Scythians attack on the Assyrian empire.

By examining this passage in its historical and cultural context, it can be seen that Ezekiel 38-39 describes the Scythian invasions during the time of Ezekiel. This passage also apocalyptically foresees the ultimate triumph of Jesus Christ and His victorious Kingdom over the kingdoms of this world.

Telescoping

A characteristic of apocalyptic literature is telescoping or the compression of immediate historical judgments and which prefigure the ultimate judgment of God. An example of telescoping is found in Joel 1:4. The prophet Joel stated that a locust plague causing a famine in his day was “the day of the Lord” (Joel 1:15). Joel saw in the locust plague a prefiguring of final judgment. The two events are superimposed giving the hearer a sense of imminency.

The same phenomenon occurs in Ezekiel 38-39. The invasion of Judea by the Scythian armies is coupled with a vision of an almighty God ultimately vanquishing these forces:

“‘I shall strike your bow from your left hand, and dash down your arrows from your right hand. You shall fall on the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops, and the peoples who are with you; I shall give you as food to every kind of predatory bird and beast of the field. You will fall on the open field; for it is I who have spoken,’ declares the Lord” (Ezekiel 39:3-5).

“Gog and Magog” is a biblical symbol for the heathen nations of the world. The Apostle John equates “the nations of the four corners of the earth” with “Gog and Magog” (Revelation 20:8). Thus, “Gog and Magog” is used in the Bible to denote the nations of the world that are opposed to Christ and His Kingdom.

The Bible tells us the Kingdom of God is destined to overcome all the nations of the world. One day these nations are going to stream into the Kingdom of God. In Psalm 2, we are told of a great King, ruling over a vast kingdom that far transcends the boundaries of the nation Israel. This Psalm speaks of the heathen nations being given to Jesus Christ as His inheritance.

This great end time revival is likened to the invasion of the Scythian horsemen in Ezekiel 38-39. The suddenness of the Scythian’s attack is superimposed on the vision of Jesus Christ moving quickly throughout the nations bringing spiritual awakening to the entire world prior to His return.

By interpreting Ezekiel 38-39 as an apocalyptic passage, it can be seen that this is not meant to be a prediction that the Soviet Union will one day invade a restored Israel. This is not to say that the Soviet Union won’t invade Israel someday, but this is not what this passage is intended to mean.

Currently, the nations mentioned in Ezekiel’s message are under the domination of Soviet influence. Nations such as Kazakh, Kirghiz, Tajik, Uzbek, Turkmen, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Moldavia and the Ukraine are a part of the Soviet Union. These nations were overrun in ancient times by the Scythian hordes. Today there is great social upheaval occurring in these nations. Demonstrations calling for independence occur daily in these nations.

There is good reason to hope that a great awakening of God’s Spirit will begin in a short time in these countries. The progress of this awakening will overthrow the yoke of atheistic communism and many of the people in these nations will begin to stream into the Kingdom of God.

Although God may choose to use a particular nation in some strategic way at a given point in history, His Kingdom and power to save are not bound by the governments and institutions of men. God has appointed dominion over the nations to His Son. One day, not only the Soviet Union, but all the kingdoms of this world shall be shaken by His power and they shall become a part of the Kingdom of God and of His Christ.

Your comments are welcome!

The invasion of Georgia by Russia has been in prophecy for 2500 years. It is written in Ezekiel 38 and started with Chechnya in the 1990’s. Read also Ezek 39. God put HOOKS (Hebrew word CHECHIM) in to the Russian Bear jaw (Daniel 7:5 and Rev 13:2) and pulled GOG (Putin) down to Chechnya. The word for CHIEF in Hebrew is ROSH. Magog, Tubal and Meshech are all children of Japeth, son of Noah and settled that area after the flood. Tubal is Tublisi, Georgia and Meshech is Moscow, Russia. What you have to know is that this war is only the beginning of much worse things to come. The two wars with Iraq are also the work of God and are written in Jeremiah 50 and 51. God called the nations in Jer 50:9 and Jer 51:25-28. The invasion of Kuwait is Jeremiah 49:28-33, with the United Nations setting sanctions against Iraq with one of them #666 not to buy or sell anything with Iraq (Babylon), Revelation 13:17-18. Just keep watching the events and compare them with scripture and you will see prophecy coming to past before your eyes.

The Kingdom of God was a New World Order over the nations. Before, nations were dominated by pagan thought and pagan gods (demons), but when Rome was defeated, and apostate Israel chastened in 70 AD, Christ began to reign from heaven. The nations learned of Christ. Hitler thought he had a New Order. Didn’t happen.
Stalin thought HE had a New Order. Didn’t happen.
The UN thinks it is a New Order. Ain’t gonna happen.

There IS a Gog and Magog at the end of Christian pre-dominance also. Satan was bound to allow the Gospel to go forth into the nations. Now Satan is loosed and is become Gog, and he leads Magog (the unbeliving wicked) in rebellion against the people of God. Fire will fall from heaven and consume them all and Christ will come with ten thousands of his saints to execute his righteous judgment upon the godless.

Still seems to me that it is reading-in to make Russia fit, rather like Jerome reading in the Goths who sacked Rome as the fulfillment of Ezekiel 38. That said, there are Wahabists spreading radical Islam through the FSU and I cannot see them staying out of the fight should many nations gather against Israel. That still doesn’t mean that Moscow = Meshech or any other such interpolations. The table of nations places the ancestral homes of these nations (Magog, Meschech, Tubal) in the area now occupied by Turkey. That modern nation was relatively peaceful for a time and now has been “turned around” from secularism to radicalism. It is now joining up with radicalized Muslim peoples throughout the Caucaus regions as well as Iran (Persia). Other nations named in Ezekiel 38 are called Yemin and Somolia today- both are hotbeds of training for terrorists. Watch what happens in late July when Iran intends to bust through the sea blockade of Gaza. I believe they will be deflected, but that may create the conditions for the prophesied coalition to really take shape. Those who keep their eyes on Russia will be surprised when the threat comes from further south, but will take any involvement of people from the territory of Russia as proof that they were right all along. Ah well, God will take care of the fine tuning shortly thereafter- so stay faithful to the Gospel which is much clearer and in which we place our hope.

if the Bible predicted the Soviet Union
it must mention the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him
Other words, the greatest event over the history is Islam because Islam is the most growing religion and the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him is the greatest man, as study shows
In the book under the title of the greatest hundred men in the world was the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him the first great
Note that the writer is not a Muslim,
Must be if the Bible is not falsified it is must mentions Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him in several places
It is not reason and logic if the bible mention events less important than Islam does not mention Islam

Mohammed (sp) was a numb-skull, scumbag and a moron. Oh yes, also a pig. Pointless for us to discuss who is who in prophecies written long ago; no way to know what was seen in the visions. But we do know that muslims are animals, that is a given. And we do know that God has selected the Israelites long ago as his people. Not the Jews, but the Israelites; big difference. Magog was Khazaria, whose nasty, filthy people have taken over the world as the hidden hand. More scumbags. It will be a bad time for everyone. But eventually, God wins, the scumbags all go away, and the new Earth is a better place.

@ Ken S. you are wrong. Russia did NOT invade Georgia. Georgia invaded South Ossetia. Because most of the people in South Ossetia are Russian passport holders Russia, went in to help the people. Once again Russia did NOT invade Georgia. The news was saying that to make Russia look like the bad guy because the US was training, supplying and helping Georgia in the attack on South Ossetia.

But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!

9As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!
10For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.

(There are many similar warnings) Fast forward to poor Mohammad, who himself thought he’d seen a Jinn until his “chirstian” wife convinced him it was Gabriel (though a FAR different being than described in the Bible—i.e. a different being) First all is love and peace, but as he grows more drunk with power, it’s rape galore, pillaging, lying, stealing—compare that to G*d’s real law, against coveting, against murder, against deceit. There’s no other way to look upon Islam as anything BUT a far different ‘gospel’ than was given to the Disciples. ;)

It is Nov. 2011. It is time to understand who Gog and Magog is since he-they are about to attack Israel. Magog is a man. The primary prince of his brothers. He is listed in the genealogies in Genesis 10:1-3. and 1Chronicles 1:5-6. Magog and his brothers settled Asia Minor (Modern day Turkey). Gog is the LAND of today’s Turkey. Read my commentary titled “Magog Made Easy” also “Mr. Magog” at
http://hightimetoawake.com/magog-made-easy/

The Abortion Matrix: Defeating Child Sacrifice and the Culture of Death (DVD)

Is there a connection between pagan religion and the abortion industry?

This powerful presentation traces the biblical roots of child sacrifice and then delves into the social, political and cultural fall-out that this sin against God and crime against humanity has produced in our beleaguered society.

Conceived as a sequel and update to the 1988 classic, The Massacre of Innocence, the new title, The Abortion Matrix, is entirely fitting. It not only references abortion’s specific target – the sacred matrix where human beings are formed in the womb in the very image of God, but it also implies the existence of a conspiracy, a matrix of seemingly disparate forces that are driving this holocaust.

The occult activity surrounding the abortion industry is exposed with numerous examples. But are these just aberrations, bizarre yet anomalous examples of abortionists who just happen to have ties to modern day witchcraft? Or is this representative of something deeper, more sinister and even endemic to the entire abortion movement?

As the allusion to the film of over a decade ago suggests, the viewer may learn that things are not always as they appear to be. The Abortion Matrix reveals the reality of child-killing and strikes the proper moral chord to move hearts to fulfill the biblical responsibility to rescue those unjustly sentenced to death and to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves (Proverbs 24:11,12; 31:8,9).

Freedom: The Model of Christian Liberty (DVD)

“Give me liberty or give me death!”

Patrick Henry’s famous declaration not only helped launch the War for Independence, it also perfectly summarized the mindset that gave birth to, and sustained, the unprecedented experiment in Christian liberty that was America.

The freedom our Founders envisioned was not freedom from suffering, want, or hard work. Nor was it freedom to indulge every appetite or whim without restraint—that would merely be servitude to a different master. No, the Founders’ passion was to live free before God, unfettered by the chains of autocracy, shackles that slowly but inexorably bind men when the governments they fashion fail to recognize and uphold freedom’s singular, foundational truth: that all men are created in the image of God, and are thereby co-equally endowed with the right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

This presentation is a similar call, not to one but many. By reintroducing the principles of freedom that gave birth to America, it is our prayer that Jesus, the true and only ruler over the nations, will once again be our acknowledged Sovereign, that we may again know and exult in the great truth that “where the Spirit of the LORD is, there is liberty” (2 Cor. 3:17).

Welcome to the Second American Revolution!

This DVD features “Liberty: The Model of Christian Liberty” along with “Dawn’s Early Light: A Brief History of America’s Christian Foundations.” Bonus features include a humorous but instructive collection of campaign ads and Eric Holmberg’s controversial YouTube challenge concerning Mitt Romney’s campaign for president.

In The Days of These Kings (Book)

Perfect-bound Paperback — 740 pages

The Book of Daniel in Preterist Perspective

“And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever” (Daniel 2:44).

The overarching message of Daniel is that Jesus the Messiah is even now ruling over the nations. He is the King of kings. Daniel tells us that Messiah’s kingdom will advance in the whole world from “generation to generation” (Daniel 4:4,34). Christ’s dominion is “given to the people of the saints of the most High” (Daniel 7:22). Our purpose then is to see “all people, nations, and languages … serve and obey him” (Daniel 7:14,27).

This comprehensive work offers a fascinating look at the book of Daniel in preterist perspective. Great attention is paid to the writings of ancient and modern historians and scholars to connect the dots and demonstrate the continuity of Daniel’s prophecy with all of Scripture.

Martin Luther: Digitally Remastered 1953 Classic (DVD)

“Here I stand … I can do no other!”

With these immortal words, an unknown German monk sparked a spiritual revolution that changed the world.

The dramatic classic film of Martin Luther’s life was released in theaters worldwide in the 1950s and was nominated for two Oscars. A magnificent depiction of Luther and the forces at work in the surrounding society that resulted in his historic reform efforts, this film traces Luther’s life from a guilt-burdened monk to his eventual break with the Roman Catholic Church.

The Four Keys to the Millennium (Book)

All Christians believe that their great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will one day return. Although we cannot know the exact time of His return, what exactly did Jesus mean when he spoke of the signs of His coming (Mat. 24)? How are we to interpret the prophecies in Isaiah regarding the time when “the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea” (Isa. 11:19)? Should we expect a time of great tribulation and apostasy or revival and reformation before the Lord returns? Is the devil bound now, and are the saints reigning with Christ? Did you know that there are four hermeneutical approaches to the book of Daniel and Revelation?

These and many more questions are dealt with by four authors as they present the four views on the millennium. Each view is then critiqued by the other three authors.

The Abortion Matrix:
Defeating Child Sacrifice and the Culture of Death is a 195-minute presentation that traces the biblical roots of child sacrifice and then delves into the social, political and cultural fall-out that this sin against God has produced. You can order this series on DVD, read the complete script and view clips on-line...continued ...